1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for mounting a spray canister to a firearm and, more particularly, to a device which mounts to the barrel of a firearm for holding a variety of sizes of spray canisters containing debilitating chemical agents, wherein the device includes means for triggering release of the chemical agents from the canister and in a direction in which the firearm is aimed.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
There are times when law enforcement personnel (i.e. police, FBI agents, ATF agents, SWAT teams and the like) are required to draw a firearm when attempting to apprehend potentially dangerous criminal suspects. In these circumstances, it is not unusual for a suspect to attempt to allude or resist arrest by using non-lethal force. In this situation, the law enforcement officer is not permitted to fire his weapon or to use any type of deadly force. However, because the manner in which a suspect may react is unknown, law enforcement personnel must always be ready to respond with a variety of offensive and defensive tactics. The ability to quickly respond and adjust to both non-lethal resistance as well as the immediate threat of serious bodily harm or death is essential to protect the life of the officer as well as the lives of any victims or innocent bystanders.
In the past, various devices and methods have been proposed for debilitating a criminal suspect by means other than use of a deadly firearm. Examples include the use of non-penetrating projectiles, such as rubber bullets, which cause severe pain and temporary immobility when they strike certain areas of the body. However, use of such projectiles can result in serious injury, such as blindness, and, in many states, are considered to be use of deadly force.
Others have proposed use of various chemical substances, such as tear gas and mace, to temporarily debilitate a suspect without the use of deadly force. In many instances, the chemical debilitating agent is contained within a canister that is secured to the law enforcement officer""s belt. When the occasion arises when it is necessary to use the chemical debilitating agent, it can be difficult to quickly and effectively remove the hand held chemical spray device, especially if the law enforcement officer is holding a firearm. This present the danger of a suspect quickly charging the law enforcement officer before the officer has sufficient time to remove the spray canister device from a belt holster. Also, in the haste to quickly remove the chemical agent spraying device, the officer may accidentally drop the canister, thereby providing an opportunity to the suspect to physically attack the officer.
To address the need for law enforcement personnel to be able to quickly respond to the use of non-lethal force when holding a firearm, others have proposed attachment of various spray devices to the firearm. In particular, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,983,548 and 5,671,559, disclose a non-lethal firearm device wherein a lethal gun, pistol or rifle that conventionally fires solid projectiles in the form of bullets, is converted to a non-lethal defensive weapon by means of a novel canister unit attachment which has the ability to deploy a non-lethal chemical fluid such as tear gas or pepper gas. While the devices disclosed in these patents are far more effective in allowing law enforcement personnel to quickly choose between lethal or non-lethal action as compared to various other methods and devices proposed in the art, they too have several short comings which limit their use and effectiveness. In particular, the non-lethal firearm devices disclosed in these patents are specifically structured for attachment to a specific firearm. Accordingly, they are not readily adaptable to a broad range of firearms, including numerous rifle designs and pistol designs, which may be used by different branches of law enforcement. Further, it these devices require numerous parts, thereby making them expensive and complicated to use. Further, the devices in these patents do not accommodate for various size cartridges, rather they are designed for a specific type of cartridge which may not be readily available to law enforcement personnel or other users of the device. Finally, the non-lethal firearm devices in these patents require operation of a trigger using the same hand and finger which is used to operate the lethal, bullet-firing weapon. This arrangement has the potential to lead to mistakes or accidents wherein the operator may inadvertently pull the wrong trigger, causing a bullet to be fired from the weapon. Finally, the devices in these patents fail to provide a backup should the trigger mechanism used to activate launch of the propellant fail.
Accordingly, there remains an urgent need in the law enforcement community for a highly reliable, effective and readily adaptable device which enables mounting a various size debilitating chemical dispensing canisters to a firearm so that a law enforcement officer can quickly and reliably discharge the chemical debilitating agent at a hostile suspect without the use of deadly force, and yet allowing the officer to quickly switch to the use of deadly force should that be necessary.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a device for attachment to an existing firearm to provide the user of the firearm with the option of using non-deadly force in order to debilitate a hostile subject.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for mounting a spray canister containing a debilitating chemical agent to a firearm in order to provide the user of the firearm with the ability to quickly respond and adjust to both non-lethal resistance as well as the immediate threat of serious bodily harm or death.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a device for mounting a spray canister containing a debilitating chemical substance to a firearm, wherein the device includes means for triggering release of the chemical substance in a direction in which the firearm is aimed.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a device which mounts to a firearm and which provides for means for selectively actuating release of a debilitating chemical substance towards a hostile subject while aiming the firearm at the hostile subject.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a device for mounting a spray canister containing a debilitating chemical agent to the barrel of a firearm, and wherein the device is adjustable to accommodate a variety of size canisters containing the debilitating chemical substance.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a device for mounting a spray canister containing a debilitating chemical substance to a firearm, and wherein the device is adapted for mounting to a variety of firearms, including different makes and styles of rifles and handguns.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a device for mounting a spray canister containing a debilitating chemical substance to a firearm, and wherein the spray canister is at least partially exposed, thereby permitting the user to grasp the canister to actuate release of the debilitating chemical substance in the event of trigger actuator failure.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a device for mounting a spray canister containing a debilitating chemical substance to a firearm, and wherein the device operate independently of the firearm to provide for selective release of the debilitating chemical substance as an alternative to use of the deadly force of the firearm.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are more readily apparent with reference to the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
The present invention is directed to a device which readily mounts to a variety of firearms, including rifles and handguns. The device includes a housing having a forward portion and a rear portion adjustably positionable along an elongate brace. The forward and rear portions hold opposite ends of a spray canister containing a pressurized charge of a debilitating chemical substance. When supported within the housing of the device, a nozzle stem of the spray canister is positioned for engagement with a front cap of the forward portion in axial alignment with a discharge aperture formed through the front cap. Adjustable positioning of the forward and rear portions on the elongate brace allows for use of a variety of size spray canisters.
A trigger actuator on the rear portion of the housing is operable to urge the spray canister forward, relative to the housing, so that the nozzle stem of the canister is depressed against the front cap, thereby actuating release of the debilitating chemical substance through the discharge aperture in a direction in which the firearm is aimed. Brace means are provided for mounting the device to various barrel sizes and configurations of rifles and handguns.